Abstract
Aim: Total liquid ventilation (TLV) seems to give significant advantages when preterm infants are concerned, but requires a dedicated ventilator to process the liquid perfluorocarbons (PFC). A new prototype volume-controlled, pressure-limited ventilator was developed and used for preliminary in vivo animal tests. Methods: The ventilator comprises a stepper-motor actuated double-piston system performing respiratory cycles and an uncoupled refresh circuit to achieve PFC filtration, thermostatting, oxygenation, and CO2 scavenging. A personal computer-based control system manages the two sub-circuits. The apparatus was tested using FC-77 in preliminary animal experiments on 4 New Zealand Rabbits (test lasting 4 hours) and 4 preterm lambs (gestational age 110±5 days; test lasting 6 hours). Control animals (n=2) were gas ventilated. At the end of each experiment, lungs were excised and processed for light microscopy in order to verify airway and lung parenchyma condition. Results: During TLV, adequate gas exchanges (arterial pO2=176 mmHg, pCO2= 45 mmHg) and blood pressure were maintained in the rabbits, while good oxygenation (pO2=94 mmHg) and moderate hypercapnia (pCO2=65 mmHg) were recorded during lamb experiments. Histological analysis showed neither atelectasis nor signs of inflammation in the TLV-ventilated animals.
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